Burst Missile
The NNBM-745 (Non Nuclear Ballistic Missile), more commonly referred to as the "Burst Missile" is a type of long-range ballistic missile equipped with multiple independently targetable reentry vehicles (MIRV) designed by the Office of Naval Intelligence and operated by the United Nations Space Command. It is considered as one of the UNSC's most powerful non-nuclear weapon that it has in service. Its name is derived from the nature of how the missile works, by splitting into eight independent warheads, and detonating individually in a massive mid-air explosion releasing both a destructive shockwave and explosion in the process that will destroy anything that is 2000 meters below the point of detonation(s). History Origins Back in 10 BNE when the UPEO acquired territories on Earth, nuclear weapons were considered as a fairly obvious WMD and using them on Earth would bring international condemnation. The Office of Naval Intelligence deduced that they required a powerful weapon that is both non-nuclear but is almost as powerful as a nuclear weapon as well. These concerns served as the foundations to the idea that eventually gave birth to the Burst Missile. Early planning stages The development of sonic weapons to incapacitate people was the catalyst that gave ONI the concept they needed: a weapon that releases a destructive shockwave that is capable of destroying everything caught within its blast radius. A team was assembled on an uninhabited planet within the Julius System which is under the jurisdiction of the UPEO to design and create the weapon. UNSC HIGHCOM was notified of ONI's intentions and gave them a nod of approval to proceed with their project. Development and production under ONI By 8 NE a prototype had been completed. This prototype only carried one warhead but the results of its first live test was more than satisfying. ONI gave the team the green-light to perfect their weapon system. By 12 NE a final test was conducted to the satisfaction of both ONI and HIGHCOM members. Deployment By 13 NE the Burst Missile was already in full production and a large number of them had been transported to the UPEO's Earth Territories to be outfitted on its military assets. The Burst Missile was first used in actual combat against a terrorist organization known as VeraState. A Burst Missile was launched from a Megaladon ARC vessel which crippled and destroyed the Arkbird, a superweapon that VeraState possesed. It was later on used to sanitize the local air space during the siege of Vera Island as well as the push into Africa when a completely separate entity known as the UNSC as well was hunkered down. Burst Missiles were used to great effect allowing the UPEO and the Axis to maintain aerial superiority over the combat area. Design characteristics Mechanism The missile derives its name from the warheads unique feature: they detonate in mid air (airburst) releasing a destructive and deadly shock wave in the process. The warheads used allow both the shock wave itself and explosion to remain airborne for several seconds before dissipating, allowing it to damage anything that survived the initial shock wave. A single V2 warhead is capable of unleashing a destructive shock wave equivalent to more than 450 PSI overpressure as well as an explosion equivalent to 4 kilotons of TNT. A single Burst Missile contains eight independent V2 warheads. This maximizes the area encompassed by the effects of the missile. Once the warheads are released they immediately spread out in a loose circular formation to maximize the area covered by the blast. Anything that is 2000 meters below the point of detonation will be destroyed by the Burst Missile. Launch platform The Burst Missile can be launched in multiple ways. The two most common methods are by launching it from a submarine as a Submarine Launch Ballistic Missile or from a terrestrial missile silo as an Inter Continental Ballistic Missile. These two methods will require the missile to carry eight warheads. However the launch platforms can be modified. A cruise missile can be outfitted with a single burst missile warhead allowing it to be launched by regular ships or even by jet fighters. In this form it is known as a Multi Purpose Burst Missile (MPBM) as it can be launched by almost any weapons platform the UNSC has and is considered a tactical weapon as it only contains a single warhead, unlike the ICBM and SLBM variants which contains eight warheads. Other delivery systems such as artillery platforms can also be outfitted with a burst missile warhead granting the Army the capability to utilize the Burst Missile albeit on a smaller scale. The Maritime Defense Force is the largest user of the Burst Missile with the Air Force following close behind it. Effects "The way the Burst Missile kills living targets is both unique- and unpleasant. I've seen the aftermath of a Burst Missile detonation where the ruptured lungs of the victims dangled from their mouths. Apparently there is a vacuum-like effect that takes place, causing the the internal organs of living targets to be sucked from the inside out, forcing them to find the exit point of least resistance. In the case of humans: through the esophagus and out through the mouth." - A corpsman from the UNSC MEDCORP describing the effects of the Burst Missile against living targets. The shock wave released by the warhead is destructive and deadly against both living and non-living targets. Clocking at 450 PSI of overpressure the shock wave has more than enough power to shred airplanes into pieces, puncture holes into the hulls of a warship and demolish entire buildings such skyscrapers and level forests. Against humans the shock wave would cause death by rupturing the lungs and severely damaging other internal organs. It is this destructive and deadly shock wave/blast wave and its resulting overpressure that kills living targets and destroys objects. If the shock wave doesn't kill the living targets, then then those who survived but were caught by the shock wave would be violently thrown against other objects, receiving blunt force trauma in the process. Furthermore any object caught within the vicinity of the blast such as military assets and debris that does not possess a foundation that anchors it to the ground would be launched by the shock wave, transforming them into lethal projectiles. These flying projectiles would have more than enough kinetic energy to penetrate through both bodies and other objects such as reinforced concrete walls and even the Titanium A armor of MBTs. Those who were unfortunate enough to be caught within the ignition point and the subsequent explosion which is equivalent to 4 kilotons of TNT would be obliterated. Variants The Burst Missile comes in three variants: the NNBM/I-745, the NNBM/S-745 and the NNBM/M-745. NNBM/I-745: Inter Continental Ballistic Missile variant Whenever a Burst Missile is launched from a ground-based silo or from a surface warship, the missile's coding is also changed as an ICBM hence why it is coded as NNBM/I-745. As an ICBM the Burst Missile is capable of carrying up to a maximum load of eight V2 warheads. A single warhead is capable of releasing a destructive shock wave and explosion that is the equivalent of 4 kilotons of TNT. This variant is more commonly used against long range targets. NNBM/S-745: Submarine Launched Ballistic Missile variant This variant of the Burst Missile is only found on submarines, namely the Megalodon ARC vessels, Mjolnir and Thor class submarines. Like the ICBM variants the SLBM variant is capable of carrying a total of up to eight V2 warheads as well. Like the ICBM, the SLBM variant is more commonly used against long range targets. NNBM/M-745: Multi Purpose Burst Missile variant Unlike the previous variants, the MPBM variant of the Burst Missile is only capable of carrying one V2 warhead at any given time. While this greatly reduces the damage potential, it allows the Burst Missile to be utilized by other weapon platforms as well such as a cruise missile, an artillery shell or even having it launched as a standard missile by jet fighters or dropped as a bomb by bombers. MPBMs are more commonly used against regional or local targets as it has a shorter range compared to the ICBM and SLBM variants.